Trees of Life – Yellow Birch

Yellow Birch, Betula alleghaniensis – (BET-yoo-luh al-leh-gay-nee-EN-sis) Common Name(s): Golden Birch, Swamp Birch, Yellow Birch

Have you ever noticed a tree with shiny golden bark on exposed roots twined around a rock on the side of a creek bank? There would have been papery bark in horizontal curls and, depending on the time of year, pretty little catkins or perhaps lemony yellow foliage. This interesting tree is the Yellow or Golden Birch, related to the Black Birch also found in our area. The Yellow is a longer lived specimen, averaging 150 years but in the right conditions can be over 300 years old. These conditions would be moist, acidic, sandy or rocky, well-drained loams in full sun to part shade. Best foliage color occurs in full sun. Its tiny winged seeds germinate in cracks and crevices of rocks and nurse logs, and mature trees can appear to spring straight out of boulders. Scratch a young twig and smell the wintergreen fragrance characteristic of both species.  Humans have found the timber to be very useful for everything from canoes to furniture and veneers. The sap can be made into syrup, beer and solvents. Yellow birches provide nesting and breeding sites for numerous birds and are larval host plants for moth caterpillars and Mourning Cloak and Dreamy Duskywing butterflies. The seeds are sustenance for an incredible range of birds, from ruffed grouse and pileated woodpeckers to pine siskins and black capped chickadees.

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RESOURCES:
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/betula-alleghaniensis/; https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/betula/alleghaniensis/; https://firewoodguide.info/how-to-use-birch-bark-fire-starter; https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=242278#AllImageser; https://wildadirondacks.org/trees-of-the-adirondacks-yellow-birch-betula-alleghaniensis.html;

Written by Rosemary F., Bedford Extension Master Gardener